Factual error: When Cy Coates is impaled on the terrace guardrail, we see a shot of various emergency vehicles in front of the building, including FDNY Rescue Company 4. Rescue 4 is the rescue company for the borough of Queens; the movie takes place in Manhattan, so Rescue 1 would have been the unit that responded.
Factual error: When Ben and Sarah are on top of the train, they shout and it echoes, but there are no flat surfaces for their voices to reverberate off of.
Factual error: Set in the summer of 1977, serial killer David Berkowitz is seen throughout the film wearing a US Army woodland camouflage pattern field jacket. The Army did not start using these jackets nor were any ever made until the early 1980's. They were all solid green until then.
Factual error: When the drug lord hands Malone the gun near the end to shoot the double-crosser, the hammer is cocked back. The drug lord then opens the cylinder and takes out all bullets but one. There are 2 mistakes here: 1) There are no revolvers that open up with the hammer cocked, to avoid accidental firing. They all stay locked shut until the hammer is put back down. 2) The bullet is in the wrong position to be fired next, yet it fires on the first attempt. It should be in the first position to the right (one o'clock) from the hammer.
Factual error: In the scene where Taylor Jackson's father leads the march to the public pool at night, it is lit with several underwater lights. Underwater swimming pool lights were invented in 1980, well after the time period in which this film is set. (00:47:25)
Factual error: When young Vitti and young Manetta hijacked the farmer off his tractor, a John Deere 730, they pulled the hand clutch backward to go and pushed it forward to stop. On these tractors, the hand clutch operation is just the opposite. Additionally, the JD 730 was not produced until 1958. The mob meeting was in 1957.
Factual error: Well into the movie, when the cop is searching Adrien Brody for contraband, the cop wouldn't be running his bare, ungloved fingers through Brody's mouth.
Factual error: Kevin Coster's arrival at spring training is set up by a shot of a beach scene with the caption "Spring Training Lakeland Florida". The shot was not filmed in Lakeland and is not at all representative of this town. Lakeland, Florida is located near the middle of the state, and while it does have many lakes, it is not on the ocean. (I suspect this shot was actually filmed in Ft. Lauderdale or Miami, which is at least 200 miles away.) (00:05:56)
Factual error: In the scene where the boys are driving to (or from) the dance, while driving down the street, you can clearly see a 1988-1991 Honda Civic hatchback in a driveway. Obviously this car was overlooked since this movie was set in the 1970's.
Factual error: Throughout the movie, cars are shown driving on the right side of the road, but in Thailand traffic moves on the left. The movie was actually filmed in the Philippines instead of Thailand due to its subject matter about the Thai legal system.
Factual error: In the beginning where John Travolta is going through the gates in his car, he stops to let the guard on duty see his military ID. Under the US seal it has the words "1ST Sarg." printed. Real military ID's would have "1SG / E8" printed on them where he has "1ST Sarg." printed. Also, his expiration date says "12/24/02". This would be printed as "2002DEC24".
Factual error: When the news reporter is at the Lakeview Lunch which is supposedly on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, below her name it says South Boston, as if that's where they were reporting from. (01:04:10)
Factual error: When Austin sees the reflection of the assassin in Robin's eyes, it should be a reverse image since it's a reflection, but it's not. The assassin is seen raising his right hand both times when the reflection should make it look like it's his left.
Factual error: As Pellew and Hornblower return to the Indefatigable, they go aboard a ship's launch. In the Royal Navy, when boarding a small boat, the senior officer always boards last, so he can disembark first. Captain Pellew boards before Lieutenant Hornblower.
Factual error: When Ryuuichi shoots the man in the car with the shotgun, you see a single large glop of blood hit the windshield. From this range, however, the man's head would splatter all over, not just in the one direction as shown in the movie.
Factual error: Dr. Lane must have become a pretty good typist by the end of the film. Not only can he perfectly type in Hebrew characters on a perfectly normal US keyboard (which, for example, has no four H's like Hebrew but one), he can also type at a ten character per second speed with one finger, not mentioning that he's only pressing keys around J.
Factual error: Towards the end of the movie, Lana and Brandon are driving in a car with 2 other characters, Brandon looks over at Lana then looks out the windshield at the skyline of Dallas, Texas not Nebraska.
Factual error: When Homer and Candy go to the movies, the theater has stadium seating. This seating style in theaters wasn't used until much later, not in the early 1940's, and certainly not in Maine.
Factual error: In two spots in the movie, first with Thornton and the second time with both Thornton and Cusack they stood on the runway over the threshold markings and waited for a landing aircraft so they could feel the strength of a wake turbulence. On final approach the pilot would have seen him/them on the runway and called a missed approach and execute a go around. You just don't land when there is an obstruction on the runway, it makes a hell of a mess of the undercarriage...
Factual error: In Sintra, when Depp and the girl go to Fargas' house in the morning, they ride the motorbike and turn left. However, from Hotel Central to this house you must turn right, it's the road that climbs to the manors, the other way you'll get to Central Village.